Terry Phelan says it wasn’t Kerala Blasters' day
Kerala Blasters salvaged a point against Mumbai City FC at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai thanks an 89th-minute equalizer from Antonio German. But that goal wasn’t enough to keep the Blasters in the hunt for a semi-final spot as they have left themselves with too much to do in the last two games.
Kerala Blasters had a decent amount of chances especially late in the game and were also probably denied a goal by the linesman who ruled out a late Kerala Blasters goal. Head Coach Terry Phelan, however, conceded that it wasn’t to be his team’s day as they failed to bag the three points which were needed to stay in the hunt.
“We had a decent game. We created a majority of the chances, probably more than Mumbai City FC, but we couldn’t take them. We may have been unlucky with the offside call at the end and I feel it just wasn’t to be our day,” said Phelan as he spoke to the media after the game in Mumbai.
The Kerala Blasters coach conceded that his team had a difficult season and some of the decisions have been tough on some of his players.
“I think it has been a tough season for us. Some of our players like Mohammed Rafi probably deserved to play, but we couldn’t have him in the line-up. Sometimes the players go to accept the coach’s call and we have a few players who could have a case for a place in the line-up. So it has been tough for us managers as well,” added Phelan.
The Englishman was particularly pleased with the performances of his goalkeeper Sandeep Nandy as he pulled off a few great saves at the death to keep his team in the contest.
“I must say the goalkeeper put in a top performance. It isn’t easy for a goalkeeper to come in not having played for some time and put in a good performance like that. He has just proven what a top quality goalkeeper he is,” said Phelan as he heaped praise on Sandeep Nandy who came in for Bywater for this game against Mumbai City FC.
Can’t comment on linesman before seeing replays: Trevor Morgan
Kerala Blasters seemed to have been denied a goal in the dying seconds of the game when the linesman ruled it for offside. However, Assistant Coach Trevor Morgan refused to comment on the linesman’s decision as he felt he didn’t have the best of the looks at it.
“I can’t comment on the linesman unless I have seen the replays. It did seem that a guy was lying on the field and may have played our striker onside, but it won’t be fair to comment on the linesman right now,” expressed Morgan as he refrained from criticizing the linesman.